What is going to become of the vacant Dartmouth Bookstore? Allie Levy, Dartmouth grad and the new proprietor of a book store/wine bar will tell us what will be happening with some of that space in her talk today.

LAST WEEK'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

Tom Csatari announced the need for an individual to volunteer to help organize and/or host the Spring Social, which will be held on a date to be determined. He also asked Board members who serve on non-profit boards to come up with ideas for large grants, noting that thanks to the epic fundraising at the auction the Philanthropy Committee has sufficient funds to award sizeable grants. After citing the success of the 2018 auction, he noted that Ruby Nash has accepted the challenge to tackle the 2019 auction but needs another club member to help make it happen.

Wayne Gersen indicated he would be sending emails to board members whose businesses had not purchased ads for placemats in the past. After his announcement, I was asked how much an ad costs… and here is the answer: 1 block is $65; 2 blocks for $90; 3 blocks is $125; and 6 blocks is $215. I will bring some sample placemats from last year to illustrate what they look like.

District Governor Larry Vars was introduced and described the forthcoming District Conference which will feature talks on topics include Mount Everest, cybercrime, and the opioid crisis, and a host of Rotary related topics. The cost of the conference, which will be held in Canada, is $600 per couple (American dollars).

Tom Csatari read the slate of officers which still lacks a Vice President and could not be voted upon for a lack of a quorum.

Emily Bristol won the raffle, which was a $25 gift certificate for Main Street Kitchens.

Tom Csatari offered a Happy Dollar in recognition of a forthcoming open house that his law firm Downs Rachlin Markin (DRM) will be holding.

LAST WEEK'S PROGRAM

Carolyn Watson introduced Sarwar Kashmeri an adjunct professor at Norwich University and political science commentator, who offered an eye-opening report on China’s economy and the Chinese government’s $1,000,000,000,000 commitment to upgrade not only it’s infrastructure, but the infrastructure of 70 other nations across the globe. He noted that this humungous investment on China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” has been largely ignored by both the media and the powers that be in Washington. He asserted that this oversight is perilous in the long run since China and India were ahead of everyone else in the world before the industrial revolution and they are now catching up and may soon overtake us when their trillion dollar investment to link with rest of world is completed. Mr. Kasmeri offered one compelling piece of evidence regarding China’s ability to make up for lost time: in last 3 decades their economy lifted 750,000,000 out of poverty by becoming “the factory for the world”. While their factory workers made low wages in comparison with the West, their overall economic standing improved markedly.

He concluded his talk with an outline of China’s grand strategy: to get rich, then protect themselves from the US by keeping our nuclear carriers off the coast (which they have now accomplished), and then link with the rest of the world. Eventually, China envisions Africa becoming the new factory of the world, and they would replace the US as the world's most robust economy. He promised there would be even more insights in his forthcoming book China's Grand Strategy: Weaving a New Silk Road to Global Primacy.